Germany (1911) Magdeburg, Breslau, Strassburg, Stralsund A brand new league in German cruiser design: The Magdeburg class marked a new milestone in the design of German cruisers. Significantly larger than the Kolberg (5600 tons against 4900 fully loaded), they focused also on a range of significant improvements. These four ships (Magdeburg, Breslau, Strassburg, Stralsund) were … Read more
German Empire, Light Cruiser One of the oldest German cruisers in 1914: SMS Gefion was the second oldest German cruiser in service when the first world war broke out (After SMS Kaiserin Augusta (1892)). She was planned in 1890 as an unprotected cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine, intended for colonial duties and scouting. She … Read more
Wittelsbach class battleships (1900) Germany (1900-1901) Wittlesbach, Wettin, Zähringen, Schwaben, Mecklenburg Tirpitz pet’s battleships: The Wittlesbach class were the first battleships ordered under Admiral Von Tirpitz 1898 naval law. They should mark some improvement over the previous Kaisers, but only the belt was reinforced. They were mostly an incremental step and saw little action during … Read more
WW1 German Commerce Raiders Germany, 15 ships (1914-18) The surface raiders: The German Imperial Navy actions during WW1 were four-fold: The main navy (Hochseeflotte) protecting the homeland but forced to a relative inaction because of the opposing Royal Navy, the overseas squadrons (Souchon or Graf Spee’s Pacific squadron and other local forces) chased down by … Read more
SMS Seeadler (1888) German Empire – Former Pass of Balmaha, sailing corsair The Sea Eagle: One of the most interesting commerce raider ever put at sea in the Great War was arguably the SMS Seeadler (sea eagle). She was the single, most successful sailing commerce raider of the war, a brillant concept that made in … Read more
SMS Bussard, Falke, Seeadler, Condor, Cormoran, Geier The last German sailing Cruisers In 1914, among the oldest vessels of the Reichsmarine were the remainder of late 1880s colonial “cruisers” of the Bussard class. All named after marine birds, these fourth class cruisers, were more gunboats-size as per WWI standards. They had a barquentine rig, ram … Read more
Germany (1889) Siegfried, Beowulf, Frithjof, Heimdall, Hildebrand, Hagen, Odin, ägir A first step for a young navy The Siegfried class battleships were a bit of a testimony of the humble beginnings of the German Navy. The young Kaiserliches Marine emerged in 1870 from the aggregation of several navies, inherited from various political entities which went … Read more
Germany (1901-1918) About 630 subs* The invention of submarine warfare: Germany did not invented the submarine but its use in a large scale. That new concept was the submarine warfare, which almost had better result at sea when on land all offensives failed. So strong was this idea that it resurfaced in ww2, with greater … Read more
Germany (1908) Armored Cruiser The first German Battlecruiser ? According to Conway’s all the world fighting ships 1906-1921 and many other sources, SMS Blücher is rated as an “armoured cruiser”. However, by the composition of her main artillery and inspiration before construction she was more like a transitional, hybrid ship, an armoured cruiser with battlecruiser … Read more
Braunschweig class battleships (1902) Germany (1906) Battleships Braunschweig, Elsass, Hessen, Prussen, Lothringen Improved pre-dreadnoughts with three funnels The Braunschchweig were another group of five German pre-dreadnought battleships ordered as part of Tirpitz 1898 naval law. After the Kaisers and Wittlesbach, they proceeded in a straightforward fashion, improving all what they could compared to the previous … Read more
